The Blossom Season Teapot Flowers • Spring Floristry Tutorial #SustainableFloristry #Hanami #Sakura

Hello, babe, welcome back to Blooms and Bicycles. As we pedal into the springtime, We journey past trees in our local areas, now dusted with hues of pinks and whites. With the branches bare from the previous season until just recently, They are now gradually being graced once more with the much-loved blossom flower. Without the green foliage of summer, there's something truly unobtrusive about this composition of just a branch and a flower together, which allows for a true appreciation of the deep mahogany tones in the branches against the contrast and delicacy of the pale pinks or whites in those tiny flowers which, once in bloom, they become as delicate as tissue paper. And although their tiny petals would be well overwhelmed by the grandeur of the other flower varieties, every year when they do bloom in their thousands upon thousands on just one tree, their ability to captivate the masses across the world during blossom season shows just how much impact can be created when small things come together to create the larger collective. In this tutorial today, we'll be sharing with you how to construct The blossom season teapot letterbox flowers. Our vessel is already prepared with the water. and the flower feed. However, if you would like to understand what to do to look after your flowers and to help them last as long as possible, you can always refer to our flower care video, which you can find in the description box below via the link. So as we always do, We'll take the strongest of stems to create our grid. And in this collection, that is this. beautiful white wax flower, which features exquisite small buds as well as blossoms when it matures as well as a variety of different eucalyptus species, similar to what we used last time the month's collection with the Valentine's flowers. And then finally, towards the end, We will also introduce some of this beautiful blossom. This is added toward the end. Not actually at the beginning, because the flowers are actually very delicate when they develop. So we gently insert them gradually around the design as the final finishing touch. So taking the wax flower, to begin with, we'll trim it down into various pieces because there is a number of offshoots that come from the one branch. And now to do the same with our other piece. So we'll Look for a side shoot about halfway up, and we'll just trim it off at a slight angle. above it. So now we have two pieces. And just to remove any of the needles that would fall Under the watermark, we can now see that this piece is probably slightly too long in comparison. to the rest. And because of the beautiful flowers that are yet to come, We wouldn't want the grid or this greenery to dominate or obscure any of those flowers. So being mindful of that, we'll trim it down once more, giving us even more material. to work with in our grid. And we'll just add those in. And can you see how they're creating Beautiful, sweeping pieces with lots of movement already in the design? Wax flower is beautiful, and it has a very subtle, lemony scent that comes from the leaves. and the flowers as they move. It's not overly strong, but you'll notice it in the room. It's really nice. And now to add in our small pieces of eucalyptus. As you will notice, The different eucalyptus varieties are the same as those in the Valentine's collection. This is because the peach blossom is the focal point in the blossom flower collection. This month's version comes in a very cool, pale pink color, almost with a hint of blue. underlying tone to them, and therefore has determined which other flowers we have introduced into the collection, which also features those cooler blue undertones, so that it all blends harmoniously together. And that's why we've chosen cool green foliage as well. We get very excited at this time at the cusp of blossom season, because as soon as we start to see a few pink petals here And there, we're all messaging each other. You'll have to let us know what your thoughts are about it. Springtime with blossom season. Do you enjoy it as much as we do? So in this flower collection, We have three different types of chrysanthemums. As you can see, they are all a different shape. and a different color. And you know, it took me a while to become a florist. to develop a whole new level of respect for chrysanthemums, and a whole new love for them as well. Honestly, before I became a florist, I wouldn't have placed them up there as one of my favorite flowers. However, the more I work with them, the more I love them, because you realize there are so many different varieties and so many different shapes. You look at a flower, You wouldn't think it's a chrysanthemum, and then it turns out it is. And a perfect example of that. Are these gorgeous, delicate pink ones, very much the same shade as the blossom? And these? gorgeous white ones, which open up into this beautiful oversized head. As we've shown you In previous tutorials, they come with a net around the bud. We leave them on, and they will stay in place during transit while they're on their way to you to protect them. So if you just gently pull apart the net to release the flower, and all of a sudden you have this. So now that We have two in pink and one in white; it might be nice to create a natural arrangement. balance by placing the white one in the center and toward the back. And then to create our triangle, we'll place the other two on opposite sides, lower down. So we'll just, by trial and error, keep inserting the stem of the chrysanthemums into the gaps now created by the grid we've established. And we'll just take a look at the height. So it might actually be nice to cut these drop to different heights. First of all, because it creates different points of interest if you get those unexpected angles going on. And also because this one in particular has a nice natural sweeping shape to it, which is always a nice quirk to make the most of. And because the stem is being significantly shortened in comparison to the other two, allowing for a truly tiered appearance between the three points in this triangle. And now to take our ranunculus. So with the teapot Letterbox flowers— you'll receive three of these stems. And honestly, they're like heaven on earth. What can also be good to do is observe the shape of each flower stem before deciding on where to Place them in your grid. As you can see, each one is slightly different and leans more than the others. So working this to your advantage, this one being the one that leans the most, I can see, I would place that at the front so that you get a flower facing directly forward as a focal point. right in the center of the arrangement. And then with this one, as you can see, it's much more upright. This would be ideal positioned toward the back, thus making the natural choice for this third One here as the one to place in the middle. So trimming away slightly from the bottom of the stem. And also just to mention, to help extend the lifespan of these flowers, they will arrive with You pre-wired. It's just something we do because the stem itself will actually reduce. The shelf life of the flower before the flower head itself sometimes. Because with ranunculus flowers, they are very top-heavy, so to speak. And we've just found that using a technique that we've I've worked with them for some time now, and I've found that pre-wiring them makes your flowers last so much longer. And we want you to enjoy these flowers for as long as possible, because blossom season is Just a beautiful time of year, so why not? And now to add our stem, which will go into the middle. section. So just trimming some away from the bottom at an angle, as we always do. It's just a case of trial and error to find a gap in the grid where it will fit in a place that you're Happy. And then simply remove any leaves that would fall under the watermark. we'll add this in as well. And if you have all the time in the world, you might find that you end passing several hours away without even realizing, fixing and readjusting things into different positions positions. And if you have the luxury of that time on your side, go for it. That's part of the joy of flowers. However, if not, going with the natural burst effect works just as well. So now, to take our spray roses, which come in these two different varieties, one of which is more like a frilly traditional garden variety, and one is in this more conventional swirl and shape. So once again, considering the existing positioning of things, trying to envision things before introducing them by holding them around the outside of the vase to get an idea of where the colors best complement the rest of the design can just be something you might want to do. So actually, I can see here, we've already got some Very cool pink tones between this chrysanthemum and ranunculus. Such a pop of tangy pink color. From this variety would probably help break it up slightly and introduce a contrasting point. of interest, as we always discuss. So that might be better positioned toward the front and therefore maybe this one could be positioned toward the back to start building out where we are now some of the negative voids here. So just keep hold of some of your other stems if you feel like they're going to move too much. Again, just using trial and error to introduce the flowers into the gaps in the grid until it sits in a place where you're happy. And now I can see that this The ranunculus has probably moved just a bit too much. There we go. So just adjusting things as needed. as you see fit. And now we will proceed to introduce our softer pink rose. So sometimes creating a gap on the opposite side of the grid from where you want the flower to be can work to allow it to sweep in the manner you desire so that the mass of the grid in front of the stem holds it in place place you want it to be. That's why I'm actually looking for a space on the opposite side of the grid to where I actually said I wanted to go. So can you see how that's held up now? Whereas if I had tried to introduce that to the grid on the side where I want the flower to sweep, It would have fallen out. And now to introduce the hyacinth, which comes in this beautiful a soft white color that slightly contrasts with the color of the chrysanthemum added so far. So we're going to just lift away, find where there's a natural curve in the flower and allow the curve to face downward so that the flower sweeps down out of the grid, away from the teapot. And once again, these hyacinths will also come pre-wired, just to allow the shelf life to be extended as much as possible for you, because we want you to enjoy them as much as you can can. And the grid is actually starting to get quite full because some of these flower stems are actually quite thick, which is why we wait until the end to add the smaller of the stems. And in this case, with this collection, they are this beautiful variety of scabiosa. which looks really frilly from a distance and changes in tone from a dusty pink around the outside, something of a fresh green on the inside. And actually, when you get up close, you realize that they aren't just petals, they are tiny flowers all clustered together to create that floral effect and it's gorgeous. Again, because I now think this would be best to sweep off and Fill this void here; I'm just looking for a gap on the opposite side toward the back. because now we can begin to utilize the large stems positioned in front of that gap to hold upright this scabiosa just so. She says, there we are. And now to take this beautiful variety of enamine, which hasn't quite opened up yet because they are that fresh, However, at least you can see how fresh the flowers are that we give you. These will eventually open up into a white flower with a darker center, again just not contributing to the snowy white tones that run throughout all of the items in our blossom flower collection. So once again, trimming away at the bottom—these are also pre-wired, just to note. We'll just add these in where we find there are some negative spaces, and at this point now. any stems being introduced are sitting very high at the top toward the opening of the teapot. So once again, just be mindful to ensure the teapot is always filled to the very top to allow for those unusual shapes to be created in your grid using your different flower stems. So I think we'll just have to go around to the front to add this final one. These are very soft. Stems are as delicate as those of the ranunculus, so be very gentle as you insert them into the grid. And actually, I think what we'll do is, since this one will go to the very front, I've actually I trimmed it down as you can see, and there's just a gap there—look how beautifully it sits. And because of this natural curve in the stem, it just gives it that truly natural, wild look. And now, to add our final statement piece, this Lysimachia, and with it being such a tall stem and because we probably need something to counterbalance the white distribution given by the chrysanthemum, which is now slightly veering to the left This would be ideally positioned on the opposite side, slightly to the right. And we've just got one final gap, which was perfectly positioned. For that final stem. And now on to the focal point, the blossom stems. So in this collection you'll receive seven of the stems, so if we just look at them, dot these in gently around and about, some will be longer than others, as you can see, so maybe keeping the The taller ones toward the back allow us to position the shorter pieces toward the front. And these peach blossom stems come with a bud that will develop into a larger pink bud. Every now and then, though, if you're lucky enough, some of those buds might sprout into flowers. They're not supposed to, however, if you keep your flower arrangement in a cool room with plenty of water, then you might well get a couple of flowers off your blossom stems, as you can see, and when They do bloom; they are beautiful—so simple, yet just stunning. So you will get a number of different peach blossom stems in each item within the collection because we just felt like it You need to see the bloom in these flowers; it needs to take centre stage to celebrate the season. We're in. So now I've just realized that, given the new stems introduced, it pushed some of them too. far over to one side of the design, so we'll just look at the negative voids we have and make sure that any stems that have moved are repositioned to Create that natural balance. I'm just going to go around to the front to see how it looks. It's always a little bit trickier trying to create a design from the back when you can't see. What's fully going on and that's looking better. Now what's quite interesting here is that these Ranunculus have gradually come together into a much smaller triangle, so you could rearrange these. to create a wider triangle, but actually there's something about this that I really like because it's so unusual and not actually anything you would normally consider doing in a design, but it's very much the way it would grow in the natural environment. So I'm going to keep it like that; I quite like that irregular cluster together. It's unexpected, so it will be another point of interest in its own unique way, and just making Sure, our blossom flowers can be fully viewed if there are any, and making sure our stems have not moved too much where they are falling out or away from the water and pushing this rose back Actually, what we might do, given the blossom that is now being added, is position This behind the blossom is just for extra support, and I think this is going to look much better. by the time I come around the front again to have another look and finally add this beautiful asparagus fern, as delicate and intricate as lace—this can also help with filling any of the voids that are ultimately present, and it doesn't actually have to be submerged in water As we discussed last month, it can actually sit above the grid, so you'll get long pieces. You can leave them like this if you like, and you could always use them to dress the arrangement. by allowing the leaf to curl around the front of the design, or that's one option or you could split it up into several pieces, and that's what we'll do today so cutting around the halfway mark, just underneath one of the offshoots, we're then going to Weave this in very carefully around our ranunculus and roses and allow it to float. Almost like a cloud now we have this other beautiful piece. So again, gently we'll introduce. by weaving it in between some of the stems, and because it's such a flexible material You can just wrap this so that it winds around the stems in a very wild way. and you might also just want to gradually lift away some of the stems they may have fallen lower into the grid than you wanted them to be as you were introducing new pieces, so as part of your final inspection, you might just want to loosen the arrangement again and as our final The last piece goes in; our remaining piece of peach blossom. So, taking one final check. And there you have it—the teapot letterbox flowers from the Blossom Flower Collection. I hope you enjoy the beginning of spring and the blossoming season. See you next time.